Miami Left With One Healthy Scholarship Tight End for Saturday’s Game

Coming into this season, we knew Miami had loads of talent at the Tight End position, but needed to stay healthy due to the lack of depth. With Michael Irvin II being injured in the off-season, the group would be less experienced. This Saturday however, Miami is even thinner at the position group as Will Mallory has been ruled as ‘doubtful’ by Mark Richt for Miami’s matchup against Duke.

In mid-September, Miami also lost Brian Polendey, a solid contributor and role player. Polendey’s injury, as well as Irvin’s, will most likely sideline them for the remainder of the season, leaving Mallory and Brevin Jordan as the only healthy scholarship Tight Ends.

Luckily, Brevin Jordan is playing like the superstar he was recruited as, and has gained national attention. He’s amounted a team-high of 26 receptions on the year, and is a vital tool in Richt’s struggling offense. With 4 touchdowns on the year, and lack of depth at the position, there’s a ton of gravity on him staying healthy.

Miami has another option behind Jordan in Nicholas Ducheine, a redshirt sophomore, who has only seen action this season against Savannah State. This obviously isn’t ideal, but the next player in line has to be ready, so hopefully Ducheine will find success on the field and help Miami’s offense.

We shouldn’t expect any players to switch positions, but the offense may change a bit due to the lack of a Tight End corp.

Last season when Chris Herndon IV went down with an injury, the offense abandoned the position, running 4 and 5 Wide Receiver sets exclusively. Richt’s offense has hit its lowest point during his tenure at Miami, so maybe a change like this (albeit forced) may be good. We can hope for a quick recovery for Polendey, and for Brevin Jordan to remain healthy.